Mixing apparatus



April 3, 1951 E. E. POURE MIXING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.11, 1948 [NH Hll Affarn e April 3, 1951 E. E. POURE MIXING APPARATUS 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 11, 1948 @7 W Z m m mf H00 r/ April 3, 1951 E.E. POURE MIXING APPARATUS Filed Dec. ll, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 April 3,1951 E. E. POURE 2,547,092

MIXING APPARATUS Patented Apr. 3, 1951 Emile Edouard Pour,Montreuil-sous-Bois,

France, assignor of one-half-to. Camille LeGalh MontreuilrsousslioisrFranco App ica ion Dece er 948, Serial No. 64,865 In France December 13,1947 6, 'Qlaims. (Cl. 259-41);

My invention relates to mixer apparatus, and

more especially to mixing machines of the type.

including an oscillating container or-tank adapted to receive therein acharge of materials to be mixed, and one or more rotatable vaned mixermembers or screws extending through said con! tainer, drive means beingprovided both to oscillate orrock said container and to rotate saidscrews.

In conventional apparatus of such type, the oscillatory axis-- of thecontainer is usually the same as the axis of" one 01' thesai'd mixerscrews. The container is adapted to be rotated through 90- about saidaxis in order to allowdischargingthe mixed products therefrom. Insuch acon! struction the container, in order to be more readily oscillated, isprovided with balancing means, such as counterweights. Moreover, thecontainer has associated withit the drive means for the mixer screws,said drive means being generally arranged to one side of the container.Such a construction is: cumbersome, heavy and comparatively expensive tomake. It requires a frame which also is heavy and costly to install.

It is a general object of this invention to over come the abovedrawbacks inherent to conventionatmixer apparatus of the typedescribed,and thus to-provide a simpler, more lightweight; more compact andcheaper construction therefor, and one that is easier to install.

Another object is to'provide a mixing machine of that type in which thegeometric and mechani cal relationships between the parts of thestructure with respect to the centre of'g-ravity thereof are such as-tomake it possible to dispense with the usual balancing means such ascounterweights orthe like, while maintaining the desirable facility inthe oscillational movements thereof;

A furtherobject is to provide such a mixing machine which maybe directlyinstalled on asuitable foundation block without requiring a supportingframe: structure.

A related object is to provide an oscillating mixing machine in whichthe oscillating con-. tainer is adapted to be swung to a completelyoverturned position fordischarging purposes, thus facilitatingevacuation of its contents.

Another object is to provide a mixer machine having the above-definedimproved characteristics and in which the drive motor is mounted in afixed position.

And an object lies in the-provision of a mixer having all or part of theabove improvements and in; which the drivev mechanism for the mixerscrews is so. designed as; to impartioppositely directed differential,rates of rotation to. the mixer screws.

In the construction of a mixer according; to the invention, thecontainer carrying the mixerscrews is mounted for oscillation on; a.central: axis independent from the screw shafts. and spaced therefrom,said. axis passing, substantial ly: through the centre. of. ravity of;the. cents" or when f-u-IL. The. said container r g-i a pair of circularside flanges resting; on. till-Hr porting roller members.v

In this way thei oscillating structure eitoo tively balan ed. by: i selfwithout provision of counterweights or similar means). whereby it -marbe made considerably lighter inwei hte ll-hesaoscillating. structuredirectly supported. wit-h out any metal frame having to be.nrovided.,,upon the bearing roller means. securedto he. founder tion.Mounting of the apparatusis thus. simpli: fied and. adapted to be;quickly carried out. with out. requiring the use. of important hoistinmeans. Due. to. the. absence of any frame struce ture, the underside of.the mixer isv entirely-clear and unobstructed; thus the: container. mayhave a. l stlsmotation imparted to. tzfor nub poses, whereby the..-emntyingoperation. will; be. more reliably and. completely insur d...

In one embodiment. the mixerscrews: aredriv on from amotor'notsunnorted. ozrthe. container but on one. of the sidefianeesthereof and from which the movement; supplied through; a. Suit:- able,transmission comprising meshing gears: mounted at; the end. of thecontainer, this are rangement. reducing the. overall dimensions of the;apparatus. It. is desirable to: provide said gears. in such a way that;they" willimpart tothe, screws reverseand idifierential rates; ofrotation,. thus improving the conditions of the mixing opera;- tion.

Inone desirable-modificati n of the invention), the shafts of the; mixerscrews are connected through meshing. gears mounted on one of the endflanges to a. o nnon. central shaft coaxial. with the, container and.driven through. asuitable. ansmis ion fr m. a fixed motor...

some exemplary embodimentsoi the; invention will, now he describcdiorpurposes of illustrat on. and not oi'limitation in connection with the,accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig.7 1 is .a view in longitudinal elevation of the mixer, with parts insection:

Fig. 2 is a side view-on line I'Ii-I'I of Fig. ,1;

Fig: 3 is a transversesection on line- III- 4131. of Fig. 1*.

of Fig. 4 of As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the mixer essentially comprises acontainer I in which are disposed two oppositely-rotating revolvingmixer means or mixer screws 2 and 3. The container I is rigid with twofixed shafts 4 and 5, the common geometric axis of which is arrangedsubstantially to pass through the centre of gravity G of the containerwhen full. Said shafts 4 and 5 are independent from the screw shafts 2and 3 and serve as shafts for mounting the lay pinions referred tolater.

Said shafts land 5 are respectively secured to the centres of twocircular side flanged discs 6 and 'I. The flanges 6 and I bear along theouter periphery thereof upon two pairs of rollers 8 and 9 preferablycomprising ball bearings mounted on supports I!) and II which directlyrest on the concrete base I2. It will thus be seen that the mixer doesnot require any metal frame.

The rocking movement of the container is effected by rotation of theflanged discs 6 and I on the rollers 8 and 9, and said rocking movementmay extend throughout an entire half-circle, so that the containerassumes a vertical position reversed from its charging position, and thedis-. charge of the mixed products is facilitated.

5 The absence of any frame, clearing the underside of the container,enables such complete overturn or capsizing of the container I, and thusfacilitates gravity-discharge therefrom. To guide this overturningmovement, chains I3 are secured to each of the flanged discs 6 and I atthe periphery of the latter. Each of said chains I3 is actuated througha pinion I4 andlay pinions I5, I6, I'I.' The two pinions I4 mounted on acommon longitudinal shaft 3| ensure simultaneous rotation of the chainsI3 driving .the flanges 6 and 1. The shaft 3| is driven through a wormand worm gear drive in order-to provide the necessary one-way orirreversible character for the movement of the container.

' On one of the flanges, say I, the motor I8 which controls the movementof the screws is mounted. The motor. shaft I8 carries a sheave l9 whosemovement is transmitted through the belt to another similar sheave 2Idriving the shaft 22. Said shaft extends throughout the entire length ofthe mixer, passing through the flanges 6 and TI and being journalled inbearings 23, 24 carried thereon.

Transmission of the drive from shaft 22 to the'screws 2 and 3 is"effected through a dual set of meshing gears arranged at the end of themixer on shafts carried on the flanged discs 6 and ,1. Considering oneof those sets of drive gears, the operation of both of which isidentical, it will be seen that it comprises a pinion 25 driven by shaft22.and meshing with a gear 26 freely rotatable 0n the shafts 4 and 5. Apinion 2'I'rigid with the pinion 26 is arranged to drive: firstly, anddirectly, a pinion 28 actuating the screw 2, and secondly, indirectlythrough lay-gear 29, the pinion30 actuatingthe screw 3. With sucharrangement,-both screws 2-and 3are rotated in opposite directions. Thedrive-ratio of the gears may be so selected as to cause the screws 2 andshown in Fig. 4, be mounted on the floor.

3 to be driven at different rates, this making for a more eflicientmixing operation.

With the construction described, the container is perfectly balancedwhile it does not include any counterweight or similar means. It may bedesigned for large capacities without any difiiculty and without undueweight and bulk. It is especially easy and economical to make and tomount.

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figures 4 to 6, the geartrains at the end of the structure corresponding to flange I areenclosed in a housing 33 carried by this flange. The drive mechanism forthe shaft 22 comprises a gear 35 mounted on an extension of the shaft 22beyond the pinions 25 and enclosed in a housing 34 secured 0n thehousing 33. The gear 35 is connected through an intermediate gear 36 toa pinion 31 secured on a shaft 33 mounted on the housing 34 in alignmentwith the shaft 5 and consequently in coaxial relationship with theoscillational axis of the mixer,

Said shaft 38 is connected through a suitable drive with a fixed drivemotor 39 which may, as

said drive may comprise as shown a belt transmission to cooperating witha drive sheave 42 on the shaft of the fixed motor 39 and a driven sheave4| on the shaft-38.

With the arrangement just described, the motor will at all times becapable of driving the screw shafts to produce the desired mixingeffect; regardless of the position imparted to the container, and it isunnecessary that the motor be provided movable with the container as inthefirst-disclosed embodiment.

As a further alternative, the shaft 38 may be directly coupled with afixed motor disposed with its driveshaft in alignment with the shaft 38.

To produce therequisite oscillatory movements of the container, at fixedmotor 43 is provided on aframe 44 supported on the floor and connectedthrough a reducer gearing 45 to a shaft 43 having thereon a wormengaging a worm gear On a shaft 48 which is common to both rollers 8.;To improve the-"adherence characteristics thereof, saidrollersare'formed with a -shaped ortrapezoidal groove in which thecomplementari-ly formed trapezoidal peripheral margins of the flangesare wedgingly'engaged. Thus, the continuously-rotating motor 43 will beadapted to impart the desired oscillatory motion to the container, withthe rollers 8 driving the flanges through friction. The remaining tworollers 9 merely serve the function of bearing or supporting rollers asin the first-described embodiment.

While two main embodiments of my invention have been particularlydescribed hereinabove and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, itis to be understood that suchembodiments are merely illustrative incharacter and that modifications and improvements may be providedtherein within the purview of the ensuing claims.

I I claim: V

I 1. A mixer comprising in combination a base, rollers supported on thebase, a pair of spaced coaxial vertical flanged discs resting on saidrollers, a horizontal container open at its top and rigidly disposedwholly between said discs; revolving mixer means mounted in the bottomofsaid container parallel 'tosaid axis and journalled in said flangeddiscs, a longitudinal drive ing shaft'journalled in said fiangeddiscs,gearing;

means rotatably supported by said flanged discs The and comprising adriving connection between said shaft and said revolving mixing means,driving means for said shaft, and driving means for turning said flangeddiscs to overturn the container.

2. A mixer according to claim 1, in which the shaft driving meanscomprise a motor fixed on one of said flanged discs and drive connectingmeans between said motor and said shaft.

3. A mixer according to claim 1, in which the shaft driving meanscomprise a motor fixed on the base, a shaft supported by one of theflanged discs coaxially to its axis, gearing means between both saidshafts and drive connecting means between said motor and the last saidshaft.

4. A mixer according to claim 1, in which the driving means of theflanges comprise chains passing on the flanges and driving means forsaid chains.

5. A mixer according to claim 1, in which for driving the flanges themargins of the flanges are trapezoidal in cross section and wedginglyengaged in trapezoidal grooves of two of the supporting rollers, saidrollers being mounted on a common shaft driven by a fixed motor. I

6. A mixer comprising in combination a base, rollers supported on thebase, a pair of spaced coaxial vertical flanged discs resting on saidrollers, a horizontal container open at its top and disposed whollybetween said discs with its end walls spaced from said discs, connectingmeans between said container and said discs for mounting the containerin fixed endwise position between the discs with the horizontal axis ofthe container when full coinciding with the central axis of the discs,revolving mixer means mounted in the bottom of said container parallelto said axis and journalled in said flanged discs, a longitudinaldriving shaft journalled in said flanged discs, gearing means rotatablysupported by said flanged discs and comprising a driving connectionbetween said shaft and said revolving mixing means, driving means forsaid shaft, and

driving means for turning said flanged discs to overturn the container.

.1 EMILE EDOUARD POURE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 Date 890,086 Olson June 9, 1908913,133 Hicks Feb. 23, 1909 918,494 Barr Apr. 20, 1909

